Types of Arm Injuries

Fractures. Fractures are broken bones. A broken collarbone is the most common broken bone in children. It's easy to notice because the collar bone is tender to touch. Also, the child cannot raise the arm upward.

Dislocations. This happens when a bone is pulled out of a joint. A dislocated elbow is the most common type of this injury in kids. It's caused by an adult quickly pulling or lifting a child by the arm. Mainly seen in 1 to 4 year olds. It's also easy to spot. The child will hold his arm as if it were in a sling. He will keep the elbow bent and the palm of the hand down.

Sprains. Sprains are stretches and tears of ligaments.

Strains. Strains are stretches and tears of muscles (such as a pulled muscle).

Muscle Overuse. Muscle pain can occur without an injury. There is no fall or direct blow. Muscle overuse is from hard work or sports (such as a sore shoulder).

Muscle bruise from a direct blow

Bone bruise from a direct blow

Skin Injury. Examples are a cut, scratch, scrape or bruise. All are common with arm injuries.

Pain Scale

Mild: your child feels pain and tells you about it. But, the pain does not keep your child from any normal activities. School, play and sleep are not changed.

Moderate: the pain keeps your child from doing some normal activities. It may wake him or her up from sleep.

Severe: the pain is very bad. It keeps your child from doing all normal activities.

When to Call for Arm Injury

When to Call for Arm Injury

Call 911 Now

Serious injury with many broken bones

Major bleeding that can't be stopped

Bone is sticking through the skin

You think your child has a life-threatening emergency

Call Doctor or Seek Care Now

Can't move the shoulder, elbow or wrist normally

Can't open and close the hand normally

Skin is split open or gaping and may need stitches

Cut over knuckle of hand

Age less than 1 year old

Severe pain and not better 2 hours after taking pain medicine

You think your child has a serious injury

You think your child needs to be seen, and the problem is urgent

Call Doctor Within 24 Hours

Very large bruise or swelling

Pain not better after 3 days

You think your child needs to be seen, but the problem is not urgent

Call Doctor During Office Hours

Injury limits sports or school work

Dirty cut and no tetanus shot in more than 5 years

Clean cut and no tetanus shot in more than 10 years

Pain lasts more than 2 weeks

You have other questions or concerns

Self Care at Home

Bruised muscle or bone from direct blow

Pain in muscle from minor pulled muscle

Pain around joint from minor stretched ligament

Minor cut or scrape

Call 911 Now

Serious injury with many broken bones

Major bleeding that can't be stopped

Bone is sticking through the skin

You think your child has a life-threatening emergency

Call Doctor or Seek Care Now

Can't move the shoulder, elbow or wrist normally

Can't open and close the hand normally

Skin is split open or gaping and may need stitches

Cut over knuckle of hand

Age less than 1 year old

Severe pain and not better 2 hours after taking pain medicine

You think your child has a serious injury

You think your child needs to be seen, and the problem is urgent

Call Doctor Within 24 Hours

Very large bruise or swelling

Pain not better after 3 days

You think your child needs to be seen, but the problem is not urgent

Call Doctor During Office Hours

Injury limits sports or school work

Dirty cut and no tetanus shot in more than 5 years

Clean cut and no tetanus shot in more than 10 years

Pain lasts more than 2 weeks

You have other questions or concerns

Self Care at Home

Bruised muscle or bone from direct blow

Pain in muscle from minor pulled muscle

Pain around joint from minor stretched ligament

Minor cut or scrape

Care Advice for Minor Arm Injuries

What You Should Know About Minor Arm Injuries:

During sports, muscles and bones get bruised.

Muscles get stretched.

Here is some care advice that should help.

Pain Medicine:

To help with the pain, give an acetaminophen product (such as Tylenol).

Another choice is an ibuprofen product (such as Advil). Ibuprofen works well for this type of pain.

Use as needed.

Small Cut or Scrape Treatment:

Use direct pressure to stop any bleeding. Do this for 10 minutes or until bleeding stops.

Wash the wound with soap and water for 5 minutes. Try to rinse the cut under running water.

Gently scrub out any dirt with a washcloth.

Use an antibiotic ointment (such as Polysporin). No prescription is needed. Then, cover it with a bandage. Change daily.

Cold Pack for Pain:

For pain or swelling, use a cold pack. You can also use ice wrapped in a wet cloth.

Put it on the sore muscles for 20 minutes.

Repeat 4 times on the first day, then as needed.

Reason: Helps the pain and helps stop any bleeding.

Caution: Avoid frostbite.

Use Heat After 48 Hours:

If pain lasts over 2 days, put heat on the sore muscle.

Use a heat pack, heating pad or warm wet washcloth.

Do this for 10 minutes, then as needed.

Reason: Increase blood flow and improve healing.

Caution: Avoid burns.

Rest the Arm:

Rest the injured arm as much as possible for 48 hours.

What to Expect:

Pain and swelling most often peak on day 2 or 3.

Swelling should be gone by 7 days.

Pain may take 2 weeks to fully go away.

Call Your Doctor If:

Pain becomes severe

Pain is not better after 3 days

Pain lasts more than 2 weeks

You think your child needs to be seen

Your child becomes worse

And remember, contact your doctor if your child develops any of the 'Call Your Doctor' symptoms.

Disclaimer: this health information is for educational purposes only. You, the reader, assume full responsibility for how you choose to use it.

Copyright 2000-2019 Schmitt Pediatric Guidelines LLC.

First Aid - R.I.C.E.

RICE is an acronym for how to take care of a sprain, strain, or bruise. There are four things you should do:

REST the injured part of your body for 24 hours. Can return to normal activity after 24 hours of rest if the activity does not cause severe pain.

Apply a cold pack or an ICE bag (wrapped in a moist towel) to the area for 20 minutes. Repeat in 1 hour, then every 4 hours while awake.

Apply COMPRESSION by wrapping the injured part with a snug, elastic bandage for 48 hours. If numbness, tingling, or increased pain occurs in the injured part, the bandage may be too tight. Loosen the bandage wrap.

Keep the injured part of the body ELEVATED and at rest for 24 hours. For example, for an injured ankle, place that leg up on a pillow and stay off the feet as much as possible.

First Aid - Sling - How to Put On

To put on a sling you first need to have a triangular bandage. Many first aid kits have a triangular bandage.

Find the two ends of the triangle that are farthest apart. These are the ends that you will tie around the neck.

Lay the arm down the middle of the triangle.

Take the two ends of the triangle that are farthest apart and tie them behind the neck. (a square knot is best, but any knot will do).

First Aid - Bleeding Arm

Apply direct pressure to the entire wound with a sterile gauze dressing or a clean cloth.

First Aid - Splint for Wrist Injury

Immobilize the hand and wrist by placing them on a rigid splint (see drawing).

Tie several cloth strips around hand/wrist to keep the splint in place. You can use a roll of gauze or tape instead of cloth strips.

Notes:

You can make a splint from: a wooden board, magazine folded in half, folded-up newspaper, cardboard, or a pillow.

If you have no splinting materials, then support the injured arm by resting it on a pillow or folded up blanket.

After putting on the splint, apply a cold pack or an ice pack (wrapped in a towel) to the area.

The information contained in these topics is not intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, it is provided for educational purposes only. You assume full responsibility for how you choose to use this information.

Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified healthcare provider before starting any new treatment or discontinuing an existing treatment. Talk with your healthcare provider about any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Nothing contained in these topics is intended to be used for medical diagnosis or treatment.

Not a Substitute - The information and materials on this website and RemedyConnect's content (Including but not exclusive of: Illness/Symptoms, Is Your Child Sick? Medicine Dosages, Medical Conditions) should not be used as a substitute for the care and knowledge that your physician can provide to you.

Supplement - The information and materials presented here in HouseCalls Online are meant to supplement the information that you obtain from your physician. If there is a disagreement between the information presented herein and what your physician has told you -- it is more likely that your physician is correct. He or she has the benefit of knowing your medical problems.

Limitations - You should recognize that the information and materials presented here in HouseCalls Online have the following limitations, in comparison to being examined by your own physician:

You can have a conversation with your doctor.

Your doctor can perform a physical examination and any necessary tests.

You could have an underlying medical problem that requires a physician to detect.

If you're taking medications, they could influence how you experience various symptoms.

If you think that you are having a medical emergency,
call 911 or the number for the local emergency ambulance service NOW!

And when in doubt, call your doctor NOW
or go to the closest emergency department.

By using this website, you accept the information provided herein "AS IS." Neither RemedyConnect nor the providers of the information contained herein will have any liability to you arising out of your use of the information contained herein or make any express or implied warranty regarding the accuracy, content, completeness, reliability, or efficacy of the information contained within this website.

Privacy Statement

RemedyConnect, Inc. has created this privacy statement in order to demonstrate our firm commitment to your privacy. The following discloses our information gathering and dissemination practices for this website: http://www.remedyconnect.com.

Acquisition of Information through PMD

We do not acquire any more information about website visitors than is required by law or is otherwise necessary to provide a high level of service efficiently and securely. Our site's registration form requires users to give us contact information (e.g., their name and e-mail address) and demographic information (e.g., children's birth months, but not birth dates). We use customer contact information from the registration form to (1) send the user pertinent medical and parenting information and (2) allow your local health provider lists of who is registering on that provider's site as a parent/guardian, staff member, doctor, or visitor. Users may opt-out of receiving future mailings; see the choice/opt-out section below.

We use your IP address to help diagnose problems with our server and to administer our Website. Your IP address is used to help identify you and to gather broad demographic information.

Demographic and profile data is also collected at our site. We may use this data to tailor the visitor's experience at our site, showing them content that we think they might be interested in, and displaying the content according to their preferences.

Our site may use order forms to allow users to request information, products, and services.

Your Doctor's Right to Privacy

We will respect your doctor's right to privacy. A doctor typically does not give his/her e-mail address to the parents/guardians of patients. We will not provide the e-mail addresses of doctor(s) in the local practice to users of their site without the doctor(s)' permission. Their site is restricted to use by whomever they wish, and they may deny access to their site to one or more prior users. In unusual cases, doctors may change their private site's access code and arrange for us to e-mail the new access code to approved users.

Cookies

We use cookies to deliver content specific to your interests and to save your doctor's access code so you don't have to re-enter it each time you visit your doctor's site on http://www.remedyconnect.com.

Links

This site contains links to other sites. RemedyConnect.com is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of such Websites. See Disclaimers.

Privacy and Our Business Partners

When we make our technology or services available to business partners, we will not share with them any more consumer information than is necessary, and we will make every reasonable effort to assure, by contract or otherwise, that they use our technology and services in a manner that is consistent with this Privacy Policy.

Public Forums

This site may make chat rooms, forums, message boards, and/or news groups available to its users. Please remember that any information that is disclosed in these areas becomes public information and you should exercise caution when deciding to disclose your personal information.

Security

This site has security measures in place to protect the loss, misuse and alteration of the information under our control. For further information regarding our security, please contact us at support@remedyconnect.com. If you have any concerns regarding the security of information, please do not provide any information to RemedyConnect, Inc. until you are comfortable with our security measures.

Correct/Update

You may correct or update your User Registration information at any time, by visiting the User Registration section and providing your personal password that you set at registration. If need be, please email us at support@remedyconnect.com.

Choice/Opt-Out

Our site provides users the opportunity to opt-out of receiving e-mail communications from our partners or us, except communications approved by your doctor's practice office. To so opt-out, please email us at support@remedyconnect.com. To be removed as a user, please email us at the same address. If need be, you may mail requests to us at RemedyConnect, Inc.

Contacting the Website

If you have any questions about this privacy statement, the practices of this site, or your dealings with this Website, you can contact us by email at support@remedyconnect.com or by mail at our address above.